Aurora paces restlessly back and forth while Prowl calmly sits on one of the benches outside the Supreme Council's chamber as the senators vote.
"I don't like it." Aurora states, "They are taking too long."
Prowl agrees, but he has done everything he can to convince the Supreme Council, that it is paramount for their cases against the syndicate, that JIU gets permission to use invasive interrogation on Torrent. Because if they don't get the permission, then they risk having to release Torrent, despite the evidence against him.
Torrent had stared at him with a arrogant smug smile and had refused to talk, when they began the interrogation of him, while his lawyer seems to know every single loophole there is in their laws.
It is obvious, that Nightswitch's defense of Torrent builds upon sowing doubt about the extent of Retrograde's ability to affect the mind. And since Retrograde is dead, they can't prove, that Torrent wasn't under the influence of her outlier ability when he committed his crimes against Thundercracker and fought against JIU in Kalis.
There is a high risk, that Torrent will be acquitted of any accusation because of that uncertainty.
"They are ready to receive you." The Supreme Council's judicial senior assistant informs them when the door opens, and Prowl follows him into the chambers.
The Supreme Council's seven senators look down at him from the podium.
"We have come to an unanimous decision." senator Enigma speaks, "And we have to deny your request. We see no reason, why JIU needs to utilize such an invasive and destructive procedure, when you already have all of the leaders of the syndicate in custody. We understood its use while the syndicate posed a direct threat to our society, but that threat has now been eliminated."
"JIU needs to provide us with more tangible evidence against Torrent, if we are to allow such a far-reaching violation of fundamental rights."
Prowl had feared this outcome, but there is nothing more he can do.
"I accept the Supreme Council's decision." He bows his head in respect and leaves the chamber.
"Our request have been denied due to the lack of tangible evidence against Torrent." He informs Aurora, "We will have to convince the other leaders of the syndicate, that it's in their interest to betray their loyalty to Torrent and provide us with the information, that is necessary to get him convicted."
"Then I have some really bad news." Aurora says, when he terminates the urgent communication he has received from their headquarter and turns to stare at Prowl in utter disbelief, "Hardkill and Pummel appear to have committed suicide in their cells, while Quickpoint a few minutes ago died from a fatal spark failure. I am waiting on an update on Gale-force, Havoc and Sidewire."
This confirms his suspicion, that Retrograde's death hadn't been caused by undiscovered health issues.
There is someone that is killing the leaders of the syndicate, and the most important question is how they managed to get into the prisons and get access to the cells.
Whoever it is, clearly doesn't want that the leaders of the syndicate gives JIU information.
But what dangerous information did they possess?
And about whom?
Aurora verifies, that Havoc, Gale-force and Sidewire also has died, while Torrent still remains alive.
Torrent, who only exists in their systems as a ghost, and whose identity still is a mystery.
There are so many unanswered questions pertaining to the syndicate's mysterious operational leader.
His thoughts are interrupted by an heavily encrypted message from Topkick.
I need to talk to you in absolute secrecy.
Athena sits inside her home office and tries to focus on reading one of her students' Ph.D. thesis about how the presence of certain genetic variations in the processor makes it more likely, that an individual becomes a serial killer, but her thoughts are constantly returning to him.
His irresistible scent.
And the feeling of his lips against hers.
Her valve clenches traitorously around nothing, while her spark feels heavy and pulses strongly with a desperate confusing want.
Topkick sent her home with protection, after she had told him about what happened. However, she hasn't told him about what he had told her, but has instead asked Hotspot to take a look at the content of the datapads with the white square, when he has the time.
The clinical professor is currently working on a program, that will make the laboratory's systems compatible with the way, upon which, the data has been stored on the datapads and will make the use of Retrograde's cable unnecessary.
With a sigh, she gives up and places the Ph. D. thesis on the desk when she discovers, that she has been reading the same section several times without noticing it.
She is clearly too distracted tonight to do her work and walks into her living room to pour a cube of energon, before she comfortably sits down on her couch and looks at the beautiful sight of the twin moons through the window.
The three JIU officers, that Topkick has assigned her as protection, are soon going to contact her, like they have every hour, to verify that everything is okay. When they have done that, then she is going to go into recharge and forget this strange day.
There is a gentle knock on the door to her apartment, and she walks out into the hallway.
"Yes?" She asks, but there is no answer, and she cautiously opens the door.
"Hello again, Athena."
Her spark skips a pulse, and she stares up into his optics while she silently curses her traitorous frame, when it responds with lust at the sound of his deep seductive voice and the dark promises of sinful pleasure, that he radiates.
Why does she react like this to him?
He is a killer, and she shouldn't want to be near him.
Torment leans relaxed against the doorframe while he studies her, and his spike stiffens and presses demandingly against its cover at the clear signs of her lust. The tantalizing scent of her growing arousal fills the air, but he mercilessly keeps himself in check and doesn't give in to the strong urge to take her without consent.
"Will you let me in, or do I have to invite myself inside?"
Her arousal rises, but she hesitates, and he imagines the fierce internal battle, that currently is going on between her frame's desperate need and her strong, rational and analytical mind.
Then she finally takes a step back and opens the door completely to let him enter her home.
"Thank you."
He steps into her apartment, closes the door behind him and locks it, before he removes the power cord and blocks the lock to ensure, that no one can disturb them. Then he lifts her gently, and she clings desperately to him while he searches for her berth room.
"I haven't been able to forget you." He murmurs softly against her audio while his digits soothingly rub at her back, "Don't be afraid. I am not going to hurt you, or take you against your will. And I assume that you are willing, since you have allowed me to enter, but if that isn't the case, then I need to know it right now."
Athena nods feebly against his broad shoulder as she completely surrenders to him. She fills with a calm accept of the situation and begins to relax while she inhales his irresistible scent.
He places her gently on the berth and kneels at the foot of it, before he pulls her hips towards the edge. His hands caresses sensually along the inside of her thighs, before he spreads them widely apart and lowers his lips to her closed valve cover.
"Open for me, Athena." He breathes softly against her cover and kisses it.
Her cover slides aside, and she gasps in pleasure when he gently begins to suck and lick on her anterior node.
His tongue explores the outer rim of her valve and then penetrates it.
Primus!
This is not what she had expected, when she let him inside.
She lifts her hips against him, encouraging him, when his tongue moves deeper into her.
This patience and consideration of her needs would have been the last, that she would have expected from him.
Her overload is nearing, and she whimpers in protest when he withdraws. His intense, lustful optics stare deeply into hers and she can barely breathe.
"Show me how beautiful you are when you overload."
He sucks hard on her node, and she breaks.
Torment enjoys the sight when her defenseless frame begins to convulse in overload, and his spark swells with unfamiliar affectionate feelings at the beautiful sound of her climax. They banish some of the hate inside his blackened spark and fills him with a strange need to keep her safe.
She is so fragile.
He can so easily kill her, and yet, she is brave enough to put herself in a vulnerable position and let him satisfy her.
"So beautiful." He whispers breathlessly, and groans in relief when he finally releases his rigid throbbing spike.
He takes a thin rubber sheath out of his subspace, and Athena stares confused at him while he puts the strange tight sheath on his spike.
"I would love to fill you with my fluids, but with my work, it would be very unprofessional of me to leave behind such evidence for your friends." He explains in an rational businesslike voice while he leans down to kiss her lips.
It takes a moment, before she realizes, that he means JIU.
Why is it so easy to forget what he is?
He positions himself at her valve while they kiss and begins to slowly penetrate her.
::ID 309, JIU officer Stormrunner, requests status. How are you doing, Athena?::
Athena stiffens when she receives the communication from one of the JIU officers, that are protecting her, and looks up at him in panic while he continues to penetrate her.
"Hello, officer Stormrunner." She greets and tries to sound as calm as she can.
A dangerous smile curves on Torment's lips, when he realizes what it is, that's going on, and he groans lustfully when his spike penetrates her completely, while he secretly activate the EMP gun, that is located in his lower arm, and prepares to kill her, if she reveals him.
"No, I'm fine. I am still a bit shaken after what happened."
He fills with even more lust for her as he hears her openly lie to her protectors, and he pulls out and thrusts brutally into her again and again while she communicates with the three JIU officers, that never could have protected her from him.
'Yes, officer Stormrunner, she is perfectly fine with my spike deeply inside her.' He silently mocks while he moves in and out of her.
"Yes, I am still a bit sore after the assault and feel tired. I actually waited for you to contact me, before I went into recharge."
A dark scornful laughter at JIU's incompetence leaves him, and he looks passionately into Athena's lustful optics with a burning desire to claim everything that she is, while he feels, that his overload begins to approach.
"Thank you and good night to you too."
The communication terminates, and he groans in pleasure when her hips begin to follow his rhythm.
"What a naughty little psychiatrist I've caught." He states with a smug smile.
"Or..."
Her voice is gentle but dangerous while her tempting soft lips claims his in a fierce demanding kiss, and he is caught off guard when her valve suddenly clamps hard around him.
"...maybe I have caught you."
He overloads with a roar.
Primus!
He can't get enough of her.
"I assume, that the fact that you chose to lie to JIU about my presence means, that I can take you the whole night?" He whispers seductively against her lips, while his hips instinctively undulate against her in short convulsive movements to stimulate his ejaculation.
"Yes." She whispers breathlessly and whimpers in protest, when he begins to pull out of her.
"Patience."
He carefully removes the filled rubber sheath and puts a new one on, before he swiftly penetrates her again and enjoys how her hands boldly explores his frame while he takes her slow and gentle.
This will be a memorable night, that he will remember for a long while.
What a shame, that she has to die when he is done with her.
Torment caresses gently along Athena's frame while she slowly slips into recharge after several hours of passionate interfacing.
He really should kill her.
To initiate a intimate relationship with someone, who is so closely related to the authorities is pure suicide.
He kisses the back of her head softly and inhales her scent.
His transfluid reservoir is completely drained while his sexual lust has been satiated, and he enjoys the feeling of her going lax against him.
So trustful.
His hand moves to her throat and closes gently around it.
It would be the most sensible to do.
But he can't.
He curses his inability to do what's necessary as he removes his hand, and knows that he has signed his own death sentence by coming here.
His sudden unexplainable feelings for her is a dangerous weakness, and an complication, that he can't afford to have. But he is in too deep, and she has already made him betray his master.
